Andy Hardin didn???t stand out in the crowd. With seemingly limited skills he moved with the Blood Nation providing simple duties. Good with a night vision implant in his left eye and a sharpshooter discipline he provided a tough guy roll for the travelling show. He wasn???t much to look at with dirty, tattered jeans, jacket and wild long black curly hair that sprang from his head like spikes. His skin was heavily tanned and his dark complexion gave the impression of some Choomba mix down the line.?? He rode one of only a handful of the Tesla Cyberbikes left in the outer regions.??

He???d been scouting at the time of the blip. He called it a blip but it was soon to be discovered to be much more than a blip. His focus was on the town and it???s people. He???d started at the campus, worked his way down to the cop shop and the so called government HQ.??

Every person he looked at was blinked into a pic file using his cyber eye. That???s what he really was. Andy Hardin was a searcher. Going from town to town imaging everyone he possibly could. Every night when he went on watch he???d upload the files to a SAT. The Corp he???d signed a long term deal would eventually pay. He???d waited, dreamed about that day. When it was over he???d take a hot shower for a whole day.??

The blip he???d noted only by the passage of the sun. One moment it had been right there then it was over here. He???d looked at that burning orb long enough to burn out his real eye if he???d kept it open. Using his optics it was easy to spot some differences.??

He???d sat down on the ground with a thud. Around him people did what they always did without knowing. They would soon enough. He shifted his jacket and stood back up. He still had a job to do even if the world had changed somehow. Unless Corp didn???t exist anymore. Then he???d have a serious talk with whoever was responsible for this.

Conversation was of the most bizarre he could ever remember in a lifetime of eavesdropping. Once the fact that they???d been shut out of the world a queer feeling hit his belly. Who was there left for him to report too? There were no sat links or armchair generals to spill his peepings to. His career had just taken a major left turn.??

The conversation boiled as people freaked. Families were lost. Life had changed forever for everyone in Troy. That change was only beginning to be felt. The first big news came with the odd tales of a battle between The Salvadoras and the dragons. The Saviors, the gang Aldecaldos had affectionately been relabeled. Rumors were rife and this had just happened. The news was unbelievable but Andy had seen the shift. Something had changed. Even the air was suddenly warmer.

Dragons? Others had been found. Other humans and a couple who were not. Not human? The dragons had been routed as well as a band of soldiers armed with seriously old tech weapons. The manner in which a dragon had met its fate was of particular interest to Andy. A women from town had vaporized the thing using what was being described as magic.??

Who was this woman? Details were sketchy. He had to find a first hand report.??

The streets of Troy showed signs of alarm as people tried to do what they were supposed to do but instead used their media devices to try and make heads or tails of the days events.?? A sketchy vid from earlier followed an adventuresome farmer as he was keeping tabs on his fields. Shots, explosions and other strange sights were evident through a tree line as shakily the cam showed distant warriors, presumably the notorious Aldecaldos engaging some backward looking soldiers.??

Another vid from the same farmer showed a strange beast sizzle through the air only to be met by some razzle dazzle missile display. A woman led the Aldecaldos in the engagement and some unusual weapon was used. The vid distorted badly and little else could be made out except the beast had been badly beaten in the attack.??

Who was the woman and why was she leading the attack against whatever that thing was? He began to ask around about the Saviors and what had happened.??

More information was gleaned at the hospital. He was able not only to find out what had actually happened but who the woman was. She wasn???t a member of the Aldecaldos but some local who???d entered the fray alone. The name, what???s the name of this woman?

???She is called Jan. I saw her,??? A friendly nurse confided to him. ???She came into the hospital. Something was wrong but it wasn???t bad. She was released.???

Jan, Jan, Jan, ???Andy thought, who the hell is she????

The nurse had no clue and as he ferreted out information more became clear. From several different people he found out she???d left quietly in a personal elctro. Color, make, size he discovered slowly, almost painfully from several witnesses he talked to outside the hospital.??

No one however had a last name for her. No problem, he linked into the Troy residence database and rummaged for all the Jans or Janets. There were two and neither of them fit the description.??

Damn! He was getting nowhere fast. Then a stupid thought came into his thick head. Why not hunt down the leader of the Aldecaldos and ask him? He???d just go ask Julian.